Kazakhstan intends to increase uranium supplies through Azerbaijan

11:09 - 11.09.2024

September 11, Fineko/abc.az. Europe's dependence on Azerbaijan in the matter of supply and transit of energy resources from the Caspian region is growing every day – along with redirecting part of the volume of exported Kazakh oil through the Azerbaijani infrastructure, Astana also plans to increase uranium supplies along the Middle Corridor.

ABC.AZ reports that so, according to the chairman of board of Kazakh national company Kazatomprom, Meirzhan Yusupov, the company seeks to expand supplies via the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (Middle Corridor/TITR), which runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and further to European countries.

Yusupov noted that the sanctions imposed because of the conflict in Ukraine make it much more difficult to supply uranium to Western countries.

At that, Kazakhstan could sell most of the uranium to the Asian market, but this is impractical from angle of supply diversification, he believes.

There are fewer and fewer alternatives. For the first time, supplies of Kazakh uranium to Western markets through the Trans-Caspian Corridor and Azerbaijan were carried out in 2018.

The issue became actual again in 2022, when Kazakhstan had to look for an alternative route due to Western sanctions against the Russian Federation. In 2022, uranium supplies from Kazakhstan to Europe and Canada via Azerbaijan began again, for which the Trans-Caspian route was re-checked for the safety of transportation of such goods.

Last year, the transit of Kazakhstani uranium through Azerbaijan increased significantly – by almost 15%, up to 2,300 tons. At that, more than 60% of Kazakhstan's uranium supplies to the Western market accounted for TITR.

The rest of the exports – about 15,000 tons – accounted for the share of the Asian market. The share of the Asian market in the import of Kazakhstani uranium has increased significantly, most likely due to the fact that the possibilities and quotas for transportation of uranium through the Trans-Caspian route are limited.